The court order, for the Wood Street homeless encampment in West Oakland, follows several others that have tied Bay Area cities’ hands.
“The plaintiffs have raised serious questions that the state will violate their constitutional rights by placing them in increased danger by being forced out of shelter during severe weather, in the midst of an ongoing ‘tripledemic,’ and without adequate plans to provide shelter,” wrote U.S. District Judge William Orrick, who last year issued a similar order temporarily barring Caltrans from clearing the neighboring camp.
The problem, according to the court, is that the city has a little more than two-dozen shelter beds available — not enough to shelter everyone living at the Wood Street encampment. Furthermore, those beds are in a dorm-style shelter where many residents share one room. That setup isn’t feasible for everyone, according to the plaintiffs, as it’s untenable for people with certain mental health conditions, and it would force residents to leave behind their pets and belongings.
The court order marks the latest development in an ongoing saga surrounding the controversial camp, which has occupied the Wood Street area for years. Caltrans in Octoberof the camp’s occupants when it cleared a vacant lot the agency owns off Wood Street. Many residents displaced from that camp have since moved down the road to an encampment they call “the Commons” — the camp at the heart of the current lawsuit.
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